


To Love You

by Slayer_of_Destiny



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Courtship, Family Fluff, M/M, Rare Pairings, Romance, Slytherin Harry Potter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-03
Updated: 2020-02-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:28:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22102582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Slayer_of_Destiny/pseuds/Slayer_of_Destiny
Summary: Harry is in his last year of Hogwarts, and he has a ticking clock on convincing Theo Nott that he is in love with him and not just after a bit of fun. With the help of his family and friends, there is no doubt that this is going to be an interesting time in Hogwarts. Harry/Theo Slash
Relationships: Theodore Nott/Harry Potter
Comments: 40
Kudos: 389





	1. Morning Starts

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ArielSakura](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArielSakura/gifts).



> A.N Hi everyone just a quick thing before getting into the story. My Facebook has been suspended due to the fact that someone has reported me for using a false name. I am in the middle of trying to sort it out with Facebook, and I will be back on there as soon as I can.
> 
> Until then I hope that you enjoy this story, and it is dedicated to the amazing ArielSakura for all her amazing help and helping me beta, and inspiring me with her brilliant stories!

Chapter One

Harry yawned jaw stretching wide as he strolled down the hallway to the kitchen. All week, he had been whined to about making breakfast and he had finally given in. It was the day they were heading to Diagon Alley to get their things for school after all.

He set to work getting everything that he needed together, - and making sure that it was still in date knowing his parents - then he set to work cooking. With a quick flick of his wand, he tied his shoulder-length black hair out of the way as he turned to the cooker to get started. Glancing at the clock, he flicked his wand again to start the kettle boiling on the stove.

"Harry, you're cooking!" Lily said delightedly as she walked into the kitchen.

Her bedhead a riot of red curls, and pillow creases were still on her face. She was also wearing her favourite green pyjamas with cartoon snakes, the ones Harry had found three years ago and just had to buy for her birthday as a joke present. They had all wet themselves with laughter at the look on his dad's face when she unwrapped them.

"Yes, thought we could do with a proper big breakfast considering we're going to Diagon today," Harry shrugged.

"And it has nothing to do with the fact that your sister has been begging you all week and it is her first time buying her Hogwarts things?" His dad said with amusement as he walked into the kitchen dressed in simple slacks and a black shirt.

"Nothing at all," Harry sniffed, turning back to his cooking, the action caused his parents to chuckle; everyone close to him knew that when it came to his little sister, he had a soft spot a mile wide.

"Mmmhmm," His dad hummed before he began to start putting glasses out for drinks as his mum gathered the plates and cutlery.

"Speaking of where is that girl?" His dad frowned after a few moments, glancing toward the clock.

"She's hit the teenage years we never got with Harry, and is sleeping in I believe," His mum laughed before moving to the bottom of the stairs to bellow up them. "Ariel! Get a move on or we're going to be late! Come on!"

"Your mother has the voice of an Aberdeen Fishwife when she wants to," his dad muttered to him as he passed, the two of them had winced at the pitch and volume of her shout.

"I'm up!" came an annoyed shout came from up the stairs.

Harry exchanged an amused glance with his dad before turning studiously back to his cooking as his mum stomped back into the room, muttering to herself.

Ten minutes later, just as Harry was finishing plating everything up, his little sister jogged into the room looking a little ruffled but was clearly dressed and ready to go. She pulled to a stop suddenly, and her black eyes widened in delight as she took in the food floating itself over to the table. She shoved her red hair from her face as she glanced hopefully at Harry.

"You cooked?"

"Yes, I cooked, sit down, and start eating," Harry rolled his eyes as he took his seat at the table.

"You made chocolate chip pancakes! And banana pancakes! And bacon and hash browns and… oh french toast," Ariel groaned happily, quickly dropping into her own seat and started piling up her plate eagerly.

"Are you sure she isn't a Weasley swap?" Harry snickered and pulled a tongue at his little sister when she scowled at him, her cheeks puffed out like a hamster's full of food.

"Not with those eyes," Lily snorted.

"Your mother used to eat like that when we were children," Severus said waving off Harry's joking concerns. He picked up his paper and started reading through the articles lazily as he too devoured his breakfast.

"So, so, so good," Ariel groaned happily.

"Your father and I are not that bad at cooking!" Lily huffed and then scowled when both her children and her husband looked at her incredulously. "We're not!"

"How two people are so skilled at potions, are so pants at cooking, I do not know," Harry snickered.

"How someone so talented at cooking is so mediocre at brewing I will never know," Severus reached out and flicked his forehead affectionately.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
When Harry first started getting medium grades in Hogwarts for his potions scores he had been terrified that his parents, especially his dad, would be disappointed in him. He had dreaded coming home at the end of his third year with his scores, having only received an Acceptable in Potions.

He had been snappy and angry the whole first day of Summer holidays until he made even Ariel cry, it was then his father had marched him into his study, sat him in a chair, and demanded to know what was going on. Harry had ended up merely thrusting his grades at his father, and waited with hunched shoulders, ready for the backlash of his results.

Instead, his dad had sat down on the arm of his chair and hugged him tightly.

"Harry, have you been worried about my reaction to your potions results?" Severus had asked him gently.

"They're rubbish! I should be better at them, you and mum are both brilliant at potions and I grew up watching you brew! You… I don't want you to be disappointed in me," he had muttered.

"Harry Potter-Snape, look at me, how on earth could I be disappointed in you? Look at these results! O in Ancient Runes, O in Care of Magical Creatures, 100% in Defence Against the Dark Arts, what exactly is there on here that I would find disappointing?"

"But...my potions scores…" Harry had looked around at this point at his father and found him sitting there was a warm smile he only showed to his family.

"Just because I am good at something, or your mother is, does not mean that it is something that you have to be good at. You have your own talents and skills, something that is clearly more in line with Defence going by these scores, and you are excelling in what you are good at. I would not be any type of father if I was angry and disappointed at you for being good at something just because it is not my field. As long as you get a passing score in Potions, along with all your other studies, I will be proud of you," Severus had assured him.

"Dad..." Harry wouldn't admit even now that he had thrown himself into his dad's hug like he was five again and had just skinned his knee.

"There there, we can't all have master intelligence like myself," Severus had patted his son condescending on the shoulder and laughed when his son huffed and shoved at him.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
"My talents lie elsewhere," Harry shot back, grinning at the memory that had flashed into his mind and receiving a chuckle from his mother and father in return.

"Are we ready to go then?" Ariel beamed excitedly hopping to her feet.

"Not unless you think I plan on going like this?" Lily snorted, motioning to her impressive bedhead and pyjama's.

"Mum! Hurry!" Ariel whined.

"She is just trying to put off going as long as she can because she doesn't want you to grow up, remember how long it took her to get ready for my first shop?" Harry laughed.

"I don't understand why the pair of you insist on growing so quickly!" Lily huffed as she stood, throwing up her arms as she made her way up the stairs.

"I myself can not wait to be childfree, no annoying little brats underneath my feet, peace and quiet, it will be wonderful," Severus sniffed turning the page of his papers.

"Don't worry, I will make sure that Uncle Sirius comes over to keep you from getting too lonely," Ariel smirked.

"Don't. You. Dare." Severus hissed, lowering his paper to glare at her over the top of it, and then at Harry when he started laughing.

"It would be like exchanging one child for another," Ariel shrugged.

"It is bad enough that your mother keeps insisting that we babysit Teddy, I do not like any children bar my own," Severus glared.

"Awww, we knew you loved us!" Harry grinned.

"I didn't say that," Severus snorted, disappearing behind his paper again.

"You never know, with the way Sirius is going with this girlfriend there might be a mini Padfoot running around soon," Harry said winking at his sister who grinned.

"Awww! That would be so cute! He and Teddy would be adorable together!" She agreed.

"And this girlfriend really does seem to be lasting the test of time, a whole three months they have been together," Harry said as he scooped the last mouthful of his breakfast into his mouth.

"His longest relationship yet, it must be serious," Ariel agreed with Harry.

"The pitter-patter of little feet could be just around the corn…"

"I do not know why you two are so insistent on giving me nightmares, but if you don't scram and go get ready, then I will ensure that you end up with the ugliest possible school supplies that I can find you," Severus interrupted from behind his paper.

Laughing to themselves his two children stood from the table and scrambled for the stairs, thundering up to their rooms and ignoring Lily's shout from her and their father's bedroom about being quieter.

Harry stepped into his bedroom and started gathering his things together, changing into his going out clothes now that he had finished cooking their breakfast. He pulled on a skintight pair of trousers that left very little to the imagination, a deep purple shirt that he left half-unbuttoned to reveal his muscled chest, but particularly the tattoo that Sirius and Remus had taken him to get for his 17th birthday. Re-tying his hair up into a higher ponytail, he tugged on his shin length boots and admired himself in the mirror.

He looked good, he admitted to himself, his skin was tanned a nice deep golden from their holiday to Italy to visit Grandma and Grandpa Evans, and then their holiday to France to visit Grandma Prince. It seemed to show off the muscles he had built up over the years, partially from helping his parents heft around heavy cauldrons from a young age, partially from the Quidditch he had been involved in from a young age and trained hard for.

He had not been able to decide when he entered Hogwarts and tried out for the House team as to whether he wanted to be a Beater or a Seeker, he had the skills for both, but in the end, he had decided that he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his birth father James and so he became a seeker.

Thinking of his birth father he glanced over at the board on his bedroom wall that held all his favourite photos, some of his family, some of his friends. There were several pictures of him, Lily, Severus and Ariel, including a photo of seven-year-old him holding Ariel for the first time and looking like he had been given the best, most precious, gift in the world.

There was a picture of Lily, James, Sirius and Remus at Lily and James' wedding, all of them looked so young. Next to that, was a picture of Lily and Severus getting married, Harry was five in the picture and was grinning happily at the camera as he stood between the two of them in his fancy robes.

There was also a picture from the day that Harry had asked Severus to adopt him. He had been six. It was on the first anniversary of Severus and Lily's wedding, Harry had asked his mum a couple of months before why Ronald Weasley had said that Severus wasn't his dad; he had been there for him as his dad for as long as he could remember. He had always known about James, and how he had passed away in an accident, saving a lot of people because he was an Auror. His mum and dad had never ever kept that from him, and Sirius and Remus had told him so many stories about James. But he hadn't at that young age understood why Severus wasn't also considered his dad.

To his young mind, Severus was his dad as much as James was, simple as that. He did everything that Arthur Weasley or Lucius Malfoy did for their children, and he had been calling Severus dad since he could talk. Lily had explained to Harry when he asked that technically Severus wasn't his dad, though he was his stepdad now that they were married.

Harry had sat there thinking things over as seriously as a six-year-old could, before asking his mum if there was any way to make Severus his official dad along with James. She had smiled while tearing up and explained the process of adoption to him, and then they had begun to plan.

On their first anniversary, they and Harry had gone on a little holiday, and in the morning Harry had scrambled onto the bed clutching an ornate wooden box and thrust it at Severus with a huge smile on his face.

Severus had been bemused as he opened it and took out the adoption papers, but once he began to read them, his eyes had rapidly filled with tears as he realised what he was holding.

"Harry…"

"I think it is stupid that we need to have these papers to make it off...offi-cial but you are my daddy and I don't want stupid Ron being able to say anything else! I want you to be my real daddy off...offi-ci-ally because you already are! I can have two daddies! Millicent Bulstrode has two mummies and a daddy!"

"That is a little bit different sweetling," Severus had laughed wetly running his fingers through Harry's hair and getting a scowl that was painfully similar to his own when he thought someone was being stupid back.

"It's not! Daddy James isn't here, and that makes me sad, but you are, and you are my daddy too!" Harry had scowled.

"I would be honoured to 'officially' be your daddy," Severus smiled shakily and had tugged Harry into a hug until the little boy had wriggled free and announced that he was hungry. Lily had snapped a quick picture of the two of them before they had gone down the stairs for breakfast together.

Harry smiled now at the photo, he had been lucky really, Severus had helped his mum and him when James had passed away, and along the way, his parents had fallen in love. Severus never ever treated him as anything but his son, he was proud of Harry and everything that he did, he hadn't missed one birthday, one schooling event, he had been there for every Quidditch match with Lily. When Ariel came along he didn't treat Harry any differently to how he treated her.

"Harry! Stop dilly-dallying and hurry up!" Ariel bellowed up the stairs.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Harry rolled his eyes and grabbed his sleeveless robes and money pouch before jogging down the hallway and down the stairs to where his family were waiting, Lily still locked in what looked like an epic battle with her hair.

"Ready, Son?" Severus asked talking Ariel's hand.

"Ready, Dad," Harry grinned before spinning on the spot and apparating out.

He loved finally being of age!


	2. Theo Nott

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N Hi Everyone! Sorry that it has been so long, I am in the middle of moving house, which has turned into a little bit of a nightmare due to delays, and hasn't left much much time for reading or writing. Also, I am still struggling to get my Facebook up and running again, again due to the move I have not had much time to really get stuck into this to get it sorted.
> 
> Anyway, I hope that you enjoy the new chapter, and hopefully, I will be back with you properly soon!

Chapter Two

Harry rolled his eyes fondly as Ariel staggered passed him with a truly impressive pile of books. Their mum and dad not far behind her with even more books. He snatched over half of them from her pile and dropped them onto the counter next to his own.

"We will be back in a few moments, they have a few new books on potions!" Lily said before she and Severus hurried back from the way they came after dropping their piles of books onto the counter.

"Do you really need all of these, Hogwarts does have a library you know," Harry teased Ariel, chuckling when she pouted up at him.

"Just in case," she shrugged.

"That is how you ended up storing books in my bedroom as well, 'just in case'," He poked her in the side, grinning when she giggled.

"Well, well, well, look who it is," Draco Malfoy sneered as he stopped near them, looking them over.

"Draco!" Ariel beamed, racing over to the blond, she threw herself at him in a hug.

"You're ruining my image here," Draco huffed, but Harry snickered as his friend hugged her back tightly, seemingly not all that bothered about his image.

"And who is this?" Pansy actually meant her sneer as she, Gregory, Vincent, Blaise and Theo walked over.

Harry bristled and stepped forward.

"This is my little sister," He glared and the pug-faced girl gulped a little at the expression on his face. She knew full well what Harry was capable of

Ariel was completely unbothered, simply wrapping her arms tighter around Draco as she glared back at the girl who was clearly jealous.

"Your little sister," Blaise looked at her with interest. "You must be Ariel then, Harry has told us a lot about you,"

"All good I hope," she grinned at Harry.

"Pfft no, more like how much of an annoying little pest you are," Harry sighed, when she pouted and pulled her head back gently to tap her nose. "What do you think?"

"Harry is sure you're going into Ravenclaw," Blaise said kindly to her.

"If she doesn't, I think the two of us will eat our hats," Draco laughed squeezing her before letting go.

"She is super smart," Vincent nodded giving the girl a careful hug of his own, followed by Gregory.

"It's lovely to meet you, my brother is also joining Hogwarts this year," Theo said holding his hand out as Ariel looked at him curiously. "My name is Theo,"

"Oh! You're Theo!" Ariel grinned and took the hand while her brother glared darkly at her.

Harry quickly straightened his features when Theo looked up at him confused.

"Are you getting your Hogwarts things?" Draco asked her, thankfully distracting Theo away from the strange comment.

"Yes, we've got nearly everything that I need now. Oh Draco, look what Harry got me!" She beamed racing around Harry to where he had been guarding her things while she picked the shop apart for books, and came back carefully carrying a basket.

"Harry bought you that huh," the blond smirked at Harry as he knelt down and looked at the little cat in the basket who mewed happily when Ariel poked her fingers in and tickled his chin.

"Yes, he said that I might as well just use Hedwig if I need to send any letters, and that Hilili can keep me company," Ariel nodded excitedly.

"That's kind of him," Theo said softly, looking at Harry, bemusement clear on his face.

"Draco is right, you are terrible for images," Harry sighed exasperatedly.

"What?" Ariel asked confusedly, looking around the group of older teens.

"Your brother has a very careful image built around being the big, bad Slytherin, you're ruining that image," Draco chuckled, beyond amused and enjoying himself at Harry's expense.

"Oh, like Dad?" She asked turning to Harry. "But you're not like that at all, you're really sweet! He made me my favourite pancakes today because we were coming to get my things," she tattled while Harry facepalmed behind her.

"Are you winding Harry up by any chance?" A familiar voice asked.

"Neville!" Ariel beamed racing over to him. "Look what Harry got me!"

"I give in," Harry groaned leaning against the counter, looking toward the ceiling in a bid to keep his eyes from drifting over to a certain blond Slytherin who was standing close by and looking at him contemplatively.

Theo was different from most Slytherins - not that Harry was a traditional Slytherin himself - quiet and thoughtful, he spent most of his time keeping his head down and working hard. He didn't really take part in any of the political drama of their house, it was the main reason that they had not really formed much of a friendship despite being in the same year. He tended to spend a lot of his time with Daphne and Blaise, staying away from the main bulk of Slytherins.

It was something that Harry had lamented often since last year when he suddenly noticed that the other Slytherin was incredibly good looking. He was shorter than Harry's own 6,2 frame at around 5,8 and slender to match. He had golden blonde hair and honey brown eyes, that framed his pale angular face.

"Hey, Nev," Harry grinned as his best friend reached his side, reaching out to sling an arm around his shoulders in a sideways hug.

"Nice cat," His friend chuckled.

"Oh shut up," Harry rolled his eyes.

"Your image?" Ariel smirked at him.

"Just remember you're going to be left alone with me with no mum and dad to protect you," Harry warned her, as he shook his finger in her direction.

"Draco will protect me, won't you Draco!" Ariel turned to him, no question in her voice.

"Of course Fair Maiden, as ever I shall be your Knight in Shining Armour," Draco bowed to her.

"Brave Sir Knight," She giggled, placing Hilili's carrier on the floor to curtsey toward Draco. "There," she said imperiously before she poked her tongue out at her brother.

She squeaked and started laughing when Harry pounced on her and started tickling her sides, while dodging Draco's attempts to snatch her away. Slinging her up easily over his shoulder as she giggled madly.

"How is your Brave Sir Knight now?"

"Have you been teasing your brother again?" Severus asked as he and Lily drifted over, holding another six books between them.

Harry eyed the books meaningfully, "And you wonder where she gets it from," Harry shook his head, as he hugged Ariel to himself as she calmed down from his tickle attack before loosening his grip on her, and simply resting his arm on her head, she let out a little huff of mock annoyance, but leant into him happily.

"They're on sale!" Lily defended.

"You're lucky we have magic otherwise there would literally be no room for humans," Harry snorted.

"That pile is your books?" Theo asked Ariel surprised.

"Just a bit of light reading," she shrugged.

"That's light reading?" Theo blinked. "I would be very interested in seeing your version of heavy reading."

Ariel grinned up at Theo and Harry opened his mouth to say something, only for Draco to swiftly cut him off.

"So, do you have everything that you need?" Draco asked Ariel.

Ariel's eyes went wide at some unspoken hint and she quickly answered Draco.

"Yes nearly, just my wand to buy now," She nodded, throwing Draco an exasperated expression that was far beyond her age.

"Good, good, and all ready for Hogwarts?" Neville asked amused at having caught the exchange and the put out look on Harry's face.

"I think so, I am fairly sure what House I am going to be going into, and I spent this year going over Harry's notebooks from his First Year," Ariel said thoughtfully.

"Definitely Ravenclaw," Neville chuckled.

"There is no doubt about that, I am sure that you will do very well in Ravenclaw. I beg your pardon but I really should get going, it was lovely meeting you. Potter-Snape," Theo nodded to Ariel, and then to Harry before walking away.

Harry's eyes fixed on Theo's form as he left the shop.

"When did Parkison leave?" Draco asked absently, as he glanced around.

"He called me Potter-Snape, again," Harry whined.

"There there," Ariel patted his arm.

"I don't know what you were going to say to him, but dear Merlin whatever it was, no. Just no." Draco advised seriously.

"You're all cruel beyond belief," Harry pouted at them.

"You develop foot-in-mouth syndrome whenever you're around him," Ariel said sympathetically.

"And how exactly would you know?" Harry asked, quirking his eyebrow at her.

"Draco tells me things," she shrugged.

"Traitor," Harry huffed.

"Which one of us?" Draco smirked.

"The two of you!" Harry sniffed before turning to Neville. "At least you're really my friend,"

"Hey you just like that I am as bad as you when it comes to speaking to the person I like, and you know what they say about misery and company" Neville snorted.

"Was he drooling over Master Nott, again?" Lily asked curiously as she and Severus made their way back over to them, the books now bought and shrunk down into one bag.

"You as well?" Harry groaned.

"It is adorable," Lily grinned.

"We're just glad that you aren't sha…" Severus' eyes quickly trained on his daughter, and he cleared his throat, "sleeping your way around the school," Severus said, the unstated 'still' making Harry blush.

"Alright! Come on! We had better get over to Ollivander's!" Lily finally took pity on her son, and she started shooing her children to collect their things as she picked up a few of Ariel and Harry's belongings.

Harry and Severus splitting the rest of the items, while Ariel picked up Hilili, topic forgotten as she cooed at her new familiar.

"Hang on, where did the name for the cat come from?" Neville asked curiously.

"It's my OT3," she explained, sharing a conspiring glance with Draco.

"O...T...3?" Neville asked bemused.

"You don't want to know, believe me," Harry muttered. "I still can't believe that you called the poor thing that,"

"It is a perfectly good name, and a perfectly good OT3," Draco sighed dreamily.

"And on that note, we'll see you on the train in two days time," Harry nudged Ariel into moving before she and Draco could start one of their conversations and completely traumatise him yet again.

"Bye Drake! See you in two days!" Ariel called over her shoulder as her brother herded her to the door. "Bye Nev! Bye Vince! Bye Greg!"

Lily and Severus trailed behind their two children wearing amused looks, or at least as amused as Severus would allow himself to look while in public.

"Hurry Harry! I can't wait to see what wand I have!" Ariel grabbed his arm the moment they were in the Alley, her excitement taking over as Ollivander's came into sight.

"We did a good job with the two of them, huh?" Lily smiled softly as she slipped her arm through Severus' reaching down to twine their hands together, the two of them taking a slower pace than their two children.

"I think we did, he will look after her," Severus nodded.

"I feel sorry for anyone who crosses her, he's like a dragon if someone so much looks at her wrong," Lily laughed lightly.

"I wonder where he gets that from," Severus said, smirking at her.

"You," She shrugged before hurrying in front of him to catch with Harry and Ariel while he spluttered behind her.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Harry dropped back onto his bed after a long day of packing and answering Ariel's never ending questions about Hogwarts. Tucking his hands behind his head, he stared up at the ceiling, a little sigh escaping him.

His last year of Hogwarts started tomorrow, he and his family would have to be up early in the morning to get ready and get to Kings Cross for the train. It was an odd feeling knowing that this was his last year, it seemed so long ago and yet not very long at all that he had been in Ariel's shoes facing his first journey on the Hogwarts Express.

It was going to be a busy year, he had to finish his applications to the Department of Mysteries with his request for employment under the research project that he had started two years before and wanted to see completed. He also knew that he was going to have to work his arse off to complete his NEWTs to the highest level if he wished to see that plan come into fruition.

Then there was also getting ready to take over the Potter Lordship. The one Sirius had kept for him until he had come of age. Sirius had taught him as he grew up about how to be a Lord and what would be expected of him and what it all entailed. They had taken it slowly but surely over the years so as not to overwhelm him. His mum and dad had been of great help as well, the two of them sitting either side of him and helping him as he tried to wrap his head around what being a Lord meant and all that he needed to know. He was confident now that he would cope with the responsibility, this year would be the test as Sirius and he did the change over of the Lordship.

But, despite all of that, there was one thing that lingered on his mind. One person he should say.

Theo Nott.

Since being old enough to enjoy sexuality, he had not been interested in a relationship. He had enjoyed being young, and free to explore his sexuality, figuring out what he liked, and figuring out how things worked when it came to being with another person. He had always been quite clear with each person he took into his bed, or that took him to theirs, that he was not at all interested in a relationship and that they would just be having fun.

It had worked for him, and he had enjoyed himself. But then last year, he had suddenly looked up and realised that Theo had grown up. It would have been easy if it had merely been Theo's physical appearance that interested him, he would have tried to tempt the other into his bed and gotten it out of his system.

But it wasn't as simple as that.

Theo was a kind and gentle person. Most would think he was not really suited for Slytherin, but they would find themselves mistaken once they were exposed to his sharp and quick mind. His tongue was quick and fierce when needed and the way that he connected dots faster than most, had Harry yearning to be at his side always. He was fiercely intelligent, and he worked hard to get what he earned, never resting on the fact that he was an Heir Lord to get ahead in life.

Harry was in fact, quite madly in love with him.

And he only had one year to convince Theo to take a chance on him, when it seemed fairly clear that Theo thought Harry was in fact only interested in his body for a quick fumble.

Groaning he thumped his head back into his pillows, grunting in pain when his head connected with something hard. Confused, he rolled over and reached beneath his pillow, searching for the offending object. Only to pull out a book. He frowned when he vaguely recognised it from the pile Ariel had bought the other day.

While it was not unusual for her to leave her books lying everywhere - including his room - it was unusual for her to leave new books lying around. He was fairly sure she sat in bed cooing at her new books for at least a week like the little Ravenclaw she was.

Flicking through the book his eyes widened as he realised what it was. "Sneaky little Madame," he muttered before lunging out of bed clutching his new book to his chest.

He threw open his door and raced along the hallway to his parent's bedroom, throwing open the door without knocking in his excitement.

"Harry what is it?!" Severus asked, the two of them lowering their books and staring at him in bemusement.

"I'm going to ask Theo Nott to court me!" Harry announced, his mind spinning with excitement and plans.

There was a silence as the two of them stared at him, Lily's jaw open in shock, and then from down the hall came a bellow.

"You're welcome!"


End file.
